Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray wants the maximum number of cities in the Swachh Survekshan top 10 list to be from Maharashtra, and has directed officials to come up with a detailed plan. He also wants to replicate the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) model across the State when it comes to ideas like urban forests, waste processing, hoarding policy, among others.
In the backdrop of the ongoing Swachh Survekshan, the CM held a meeting with senior bureaucrats in Mantralaya, wherein municipal commissioners and chiefs of municipal councils joined in via video conference. Minister for Urban Development Eknath Shinde and Cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray were among those who were present.
The CM wants cities from Maharashtra to work together to improve their Survekshan ranking, and directed the administration to create a detailed project report of solid waste management. He also directed the administration to create more open spaces in cities.
According to a press note shared by the CM office, Mr. Thackeray said, “Everyone is trying to improve their city’s cleanliness but all of us will have to work together to ensure maximum cities are in the first 10 ranking cities (sic) in India. Roads, footpaths, parks, hospitals should be clean.”
He directed officials to create a State-wide detailed project plan consisting of waste treatment projects and converting landfills into green patches, as also segregation at source. He said every city should have its own hoarding policy, and appreciated the Amrut Van project implemented in cities like Navi Mumbai, Nashik, Sangli, Achalpur among others. Mr. Thackeray directed that the concept be implemented across the State.
Mr. Shinde said, during the meeting, “Our cities should work so hard that they set an example for Indore.” He was referring to Indore’s consistent No. 1 rank in the Survekshan. He also laid stress on managing e-waste and biomedical waste.
“Along with clean cities, we need to focus on clean rivers,” said Aaditya Thackeray. The Urban Development, Rural Development and Environment departments need to come together to create a detailed plan for these, and efforts need to be taken to create urban forests where trees are planted using the Miyawaki technique, he said. He also stressed upon the need for a CM Urban Road Scheme along the lines of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, and a disaster relief centre in every district.
The concept of urban forests using Miyawaki technique, creation of public open spaces, waste segregation, hoarding policy, river clean-up are ideas the Shiv Sena has implemented in Mumbai over the years through the BMC. Aaditya Thackeray has been actively championing these causes.
